The European Union should put pressure on the United States to remove its sanctions on Iran to facilitate the purchase and delivery of vital medical supplies necessary to combat the coronavirus, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture stated in a letter to EU finance leaders, state media reported on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2020) The European Union should put pressure on the United States to remove its sanctions on Iran to facilitate the purchase and delivery of vital medical supplies necessary to combat the coronavirus, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture stated in a letter to EU finance leaders, state media reported on Thursday.
In the letter, which was addressed to Christoph Leitl, the president of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Gholamhossein Shafei stressed that COVID-19 was an urgent issue for Iran, adding that sanctions imposed by the US were having a humanitarian toll, as they were preventing the country from purchasing medical supplies, the Islamic Republic news Agency reported.
"I strongly believe that humanitarian issues are of high significance for you. Therefore, in line with the positive attitude, you are expected to pave the way for buying medicine and medical equipment through talks with EU's chambers of commerce," Shafei's letter read, as quoted by the agency.
In statements published on Monday, both Russia and China urged the US to ease sanctions on Iran in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19, which, as of Thursday morning, has already cost the lives of over 1,130 people in the middle Eastern country.
US sanctions on Iran have cost the Islamic Republic roughly $200 billion over the last two years and are also hindering efforts to prevent deaths caused by COVID-19, the country's president Hassan Rouhani announced in a letter to world leaders on Saturday.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced new sanctions against three Iranian individuals connected with the country's petrochemical industry. Pompeo reiterated that the US will continue to fully enforce all its sanctions placed on the Islamic Republic.
